When I heard the news yesterday about the earthquake that brought Haiti to its knees yesterday, it broke my heart. The national palace, churches, the general hospital, homes, schools, and even sides of mountains crumbled. hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and at least a third of the population is in great need of support. Among the dead is the Archbishop of Port au Prince, Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot. This is the worst earthquake in over 200 years.
One of the causes for this tragedy stems from Haiti’s distinction of the most deforested country in the hemisphere. Just days before the earthquake, there had been days of heavy rain that saturated the soil that did not have the benefit of trees to help soak up the water. With the advent of the earthquake, this lead to landslides and erosion. Many homes built on hillsides came crashing down during the quake.
Faith communities are responding. Fritz Gutwein, my former colleague who wrote for this very blog now works for Haiti Reborn, a project of the Quixote Center. They are raising funds for the earthquake disaster and continue to fund their ongoing reforestation project with women religious based in Haiti. You can support their ministry here.
Additionally, Church World Service, the United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee are also collecting funds for the relief.
1/15 Update: here are a few more denominations/faith-based organizations that are collecting funds. Please check your faith tradition’s website to learn about what they are doing if not listed in this post.
United Methodist Church
www.umc.org
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/Action by Churches Together www.elca.org/disaster
The Episcopal Church http://www.er-d.org/
Jesuit Refugee Service USA
www.jrsusa.org
Lutheran World Relief
www.lwr.org
Mennonite Central Committee
www.mcc.org
African Methodist Episcopal Church http://www.ame-church.com/disaster-relief/
NCC Eco-Justice Weblog 
[…] was breathlessly reporting. Then I wondered how long it would take for the environmental movement to make use of the disaster to advance their agenda. Neither of these reactions are particularly noble on my part, obviously. Blame it on my […]
By: How to Help Haiti « Acton Institute PowerBlog on January 14, 2010
at 2:39 pm
[…] was breathlessly reporting. Then I wondered how long it would take for the environmental movement to make use of the disaster to advance their agenda. Neither of these reactions are particularly noble on my part, obviously. Blame it on my […]
By: State Policy Blog » Blog Archive » How to Help Haiti on January 14, 2010
at 3:24 pm
Chloe, I would like to also add that the disaster response programs of all the NCC member communions are involved in the disaster response. Please do check out your communions disaster response program, and do what you can.
By: jblevins on January 14, 2010
at 3:37 pm
Jordan, that is a really good point. I know off the top of my head that the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A, andthe African Methodist Episcopal Church are also all collecting donations. If not listed in this post, you should still check and see if your denomination is supporting the relief efforts. Reports are coming out on how some of the denominations are working on the ground with the relief efforts.
By: Chloe on January 15, 2010
at 4:01 pm